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Long Zhan earned an early pass through proactive engagement; it was only the fourth day of the SERE assessment, while the other rookies still had to endure continued torment.
After exchanging greetings with everyone in the Green Team, Long Zhan and the others immediately plunged back into the "joy" of torturing the newcomers.
Having already become an official member of DEVGRU, Long Zhan would face no further training for the next two to three days—he only needed to quietly await his assignment notice.
"Free and unburdened, this feeling is really great."
Having finally survived the hardship and embraced the light, Long Zhan stepped out of the assessment grounds, opening his arms wide to greet the rising sun, deeply inhaling the unusually sweet and fresh air.
Then he jogged all the way back to his long-missed dormitory and enjoyed a comfortable hot shower.
Changing into a simple yet figure-flattering outfit, he hopped onto his old Harley—the symbol of wildness and toughness—and floored the throttle, speeding out of the base.
With the precious spare time he had fought so hard to gain, Long Zhan was determined not to waste a moment.
He planned to buy a bouquet of flowers and a gift to surprise Stella.
Or, one could say, to make up for lost time.
After all, he had been so busy with VIP security training recently that he hadn't properly spent time with Stella; during the latest assessment, they hadn't even contacted each other for days.
At this moment, maintaining necessary emotional connection was especially important.
Carrying the gifts and flowers, Long Zhan suddenly appeared outside the school gates. In front of the bustling crowd at the entrance, he gave Stella a kiss full of romantic sentiment, which indeed took her by surprise.
This "big guy" who knew how to create romance was like a warm blanket on a cold winter night.
He made Stella utterly captivated.
The two returned to Stella's small apartment, where Stella, melted by Long Zhan's romance, was unusually proactive. Their clingy and intimate life began from that moment on.
During the day, they went to the movies and strolled the beach; at night, they shared candlelit dinners followed by leisurely walks together through the streets.
A simple life, elevated to its utmost expression.
The only regret was that Stella's shared apartment was still occupied by her roommate and her roommate's boyfriend, making both Long Zhan and Stella feel somewhat uncomfortable.
However, after two days of this blissful couple's life, just as they prepared to find a new place and build a love nest together…
That familiar buzzing sound rang out, untimely and unwelcome.
A random call from the base!
Their passionate, intertwined life abruptly ended as if doused with a bucket of cold water by those buzzing reminders.
Long Zhan had no choice but to get dressed and leave.
Stella was speechless but understanding; she had long since prepared herself mentally before choosing a Navy SEAL as a boyfriend.
No complaints, no dissatisfaction.
A tender hug filled with affection, a loving farewell kiss, and a promise—"I'll wait for you to come back, and then we'll go look for a place"—showcased Stella's top-tier emotional intelligence.
If Long Zhan were not an ambitious man, he might have sunk completely into this gentle paradise.
But alas.
Long Zhan was not only ambitious, his wildness was equally fierce.
With the Harley's throttle pressed all the way down, Long Zhan raced back to base in less than half an hour.
He had assumed the SERE assessment had ended and that they were about to begin official team assembly and assignments.
On the way back, he had even deliberately bought a case of the best-selling American beer, Bud Light, which sells 300 million cases annually.
There was a tradition when rookies joined DEVGRU to bring a case of beer.
Jason, Sonny, and other official members of Team B didn't like foreign beers much; their favorite was the American Budweiser series.
Long Zhan intended to bring this case of Bud Light to Team B and have a drink with the veterans.
But…
Things turned out to be nothing like that.
Just after reporting back to the Green Team and finding Instructor Adam, Long Zhan discovered the SERE assessment was not over; instead, he was required to undertake an urgent SR (Special Reconnaissance) mission.
The mission was so rushed that Long Zhan hadn't even received the operational file before departure.
There was no prior notice, no information on the objective, no knowledge of the flight destination—he was only told this trip was to provide external support.
He was directly transported by vehicle to "Bay Island" Air Force Base, where he boarded a transport plane bound for the mission site.
Everything else…
would have to wait until after the transport plane landed, when a specialist would brief Long Zhan.
Although this type of mission seemed chaotic and disconnected from the rigor of special operations, it was in fact the "norm" for counter-terrorism special operations.
Unlike DEVGRU missions, which came with detailed intelligence and dedicated CIA senior intelligence officers assigned, the vast majority of special forces units did not enjoy such privileges.
Not long after Long Zhan boarded the plane with his luggage, a military truck stopped outside the transport aircraft's rear door, and an eight-man team disembarked.
Leading them was a captain, while the others were all non-commissioned officers, mostly between the E5 and E4 ranks.
Long Zhan had never seen these people in the Green Team before, but they radiated a strong sense of familiarity because all wore the SEAL trident insignia.
This was the soul of the Navy SEALs!
Just two days ago, Long Zhan was one of them; it was hard not to know intimately the unit he had fought for over two years.
As for which SEAL team they belonged to, Long Zhan couldn't tell from their uniforms.
Among the eight-man squad, Long Zhan also recognized a familiar face—Mark Wahlberg, star of Transformers 5: The Last Knight.
The guy wore a full beard, and Long Zhan almost didn't recognize him.
"This guy's been in a lot of movies, probably dozens at least. Him showing up here means the mission I'm about to undertake is probably a movie too… but which one exactly?"
Long Zhan's previous life was one of poverty; his second brother couldn't afford to go to internet cafes or buy an advanced MP4 player to watch movies.
He enlisted in the military right after middle school; life in the army was basically like "prison," filled with endless training and no time for movies or TV shows.
After discharge, forced by financial need, he worked as a mercenary abroad—either in Africa or the Middle East.
These were extremely backward areas, ravaged by constant warfare with almost no signal coverage; daily survival was a struggle, leaving no leisure to watch films.
Throughout that entire previous life, the number of movies or TV shows he had seen was very few.
Being a veteran, most were military-themed.
Among the military films he watched, the majority were domestic "conscription GG-style" military dramas like Soldier Assault and I Am a Special Forces Soldier.
For foreign military and war-themed movies and TV shows, he mostly gained insight through books, newspapers, and short videos.
Excluding brief clips lasting only a few minutes, there were only two foreign series he had watched completely:
Navy SEALs and Strike Back.
Though Long Zhan recognized Mark Wahlberg, no matter how hard he tried to recall, he couldn't remember Mark playing a role in any Navy SEALs movie.